I agree with Kathleen - the LDS files are a great source for a beginning or
direction - but not as "the gospel" - they have my grandmother's maiden name
wrong, and how that came to be I don't know.  But of course, it is wrong in
some other publications too (Virginia Genealogy book at the library).  So, I
don't know who got that information.  Also the dates are wrong.  But, I have
obtained information for a direction, and then verified/unverified the info.
  So, it is a good tool for that.

Donna in Virginia Beach



People new to genealogy think they have found a bonanza when they
discover the WFT and LDS Pedigree files. NOT!

It takes a while before you find out that both these sources are
worthless as documentation; in addition, the WFT violates copyright
all over the place. At least the Pedigree files were contributed
voluntarily (though they too may contain plagiarized and unattributed
material), whereas the WFT filches original research and then tries to
sell it back to the originator.

I am grateful to the LDS for their microfilm projects and use the IGI
as a clue to finding original records, but I learned the hard way
(many years ago) that the Ancestral File is hopelessly corrupt and
that any entries in the IGI that are not verified by checking primary
sources are  not trustworthy.

The same is true for books, of course. If an author cites primary
sources, you MAY wish to believe his/her research. But it's still a
good idea to spot check the work to see how accurate the citations
are.

We don't need to pick on historians (or genealogists) for slipshod
methods. There are meticulous researchers in both fields, and there
are many reprehensible frauds in both. What we need is a way to tell
them apart, and probably the best way is to CHECK their work and
spread the word when we find good and bad research.

That's my aim here: Don't trust the WFT or the LDS Pedigree CDs. Check
the original record indexed by the IGI. Don't accept undocumented
research wherever it comes from.

Kathleen Much
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